The Ones Left Behind
by VoicesOffCamera
Summary: In the wake of Cedric Diggory's death, Cho Chang is struggling with how to deal with this grief. Then one night she finds a very unlikely friend and comfort from an unusual source. [One Shot written for The Grand Battle Event on the Diagon Alley II Forum]


**The Ones Left Behind**

Everyone was cheering. The crowd – which had been awkwardly quiet during most of the task admittedly dull task to watch – had exploded into an elated, deafening roar. The majority of the spectators were ecstatic to see both of the Hogwarts champions appear, even if it was unclear if one or the other had won or if it was possible that they tied. Either way, it was a victory for Hogwarts and for the moment it seemed that the rivalry between the Houses had been forgotten.

She had felt the excitement, had allowed herself to be swept up in the momentum for just a moment. A happy cheer passed her lips as she jumped and clapped her hands together. But it didn't last more than just a moment. One moment of bliss. One moment of glorious ignorance.

That moment passed in the blink of an eye and she realized before most everyone else that something was horribly wrong.

Harry wasn't moving. _Cedric_ wasn't moving. The sight of both of them lying so still in the grass caused her to freeze in place, her hands hovering in front of her in an abandoned clapping motion. Her heart suddenly felt like a heavy ball of ice in her chest and the blood in her veins suddenly seemed to slow. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. Even before the teachers rushed out to where the two students lay. Even before the cheers of the crowd began to fade into an uncertain hush. Even before the words started making their way through the night, echoed from one person to another with varying degrees of shock and anguish.

"He's dead!"

"He's _dead_!"

"Cedric Diggory! _Dead_!"

As the news spread like wildfire through the stands, it was as if a spell over the crowd had suddenly been broken. People were screaming, sobbing… she was vaguely aware of someone a few rows back getting sick. She didn't do any of that though. She just stood there, still as stone, eyes wide as she took in every detail of the scene before her. As Harry was lifted up and away from Cedric, she suddenly caught a clear glimpse of his body before more teachers rushed the field to block the view. That one moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity. He was lying on his back and his head had fallen to the side, his eyes wide open, yet unseeing. Despite that, it seemed for all the world that he was looking right at her with that hauntingly empty gaze.

It was suddenly as if the world were spiraling out from under her. Her knees gave out and she was only vaguely aware that she was now sitting on the hard, wooden bench of the stands surrounding the maze, suddenly swallowed up by the sea of people standing around her, seeming to take no notice of her. She didn't recall making the decision to do so, but suddenly her hands were pressed firmly against her ears, trying in vain to block out the words that was still crashing over her in waves.

"Cedric Diggory is dead!"

"He died, he died in the maze!"

"He's _dead_!"

Finally, she opened her mouth, drew air into her lungs until she felt like they might burst, and screamed.

* * *

Consciousness came back to Cho Chang with a dizzying amount of abruptness. She gasped in a breath as she jerked on the mattress, whimpering as pain and confusion washed over her and her mind raced to figure out what was going on.

Reality trickled back to her as she carefully pushed herself up into a sitting position. Familiar curtains pulled on one side of the bed and stone walls on the other three sides greeted her as her eyes adjusted to the darkness within the nook that housed her bed. Everything from the sounds of others sighing, shifting and snoring lightly to the smell of ink and fresh parchment sought to soothe her, assuring her that she was in the safety of her dormitory.

She struggled to even her ragged breathing as she brought her knees up and leaned her sweaty forehead on them, trying to relieve the sharp pain in her chest that always made it feel like she was about to shatter into a million pieces.

She wasn't quite sure how long she stayed like that before her heart finally slowed and her breathing evened out. She lifted her head as she sniffed and her hand when to her cheeks, a little surprised to find that they were damp. As she wiped away the moisture, she wondered vaguely if she had been crying in her sleep, or if it had happened in the flurry of waking so suddenly from the nightmare.

As she finally regained some semblance of composure, Cho pushed herself to the edge of her bed, carefully slipping out of the folds of the curtains without bothering to open them, knowing from experience the amount of noise the metal circles at the top of the fabric made as they slid along the metal rod at the top of the bed in an otherwise silent room. She grabbed her robe from where it hung next to her bed and was already heading for the door as she pulled it tightly around her with hands that were still shaking with painful memories.

All this had become routine over the past four months.

The door to the dormitory squeaked slightly as she opened it just far enough to slip through. She had to hold tight to the railing as she made her way down the stairs, carefully moving from one step to the next, still feeling a bit off balance. She was so used to this routine that she barely gave the common room a glance as she entered, heading directly to the spot where she had spent most of her nights since returning to Hogwarts this year.

The Ravenclaw common room had a lot of nooks and crannies created by bookshelves and pillars, perfect for finding a private place to study or read. So it wasn't until she was rounding the pillar that led to her favorite nook that she realized that she wasn't alone. Sitting there on the small, blue couch was Luna Lovegood, leaning forward and accepting something from a small house elf.

"Thank you, Mitzi," Luna was saying with a smile as she leaned back with a steaming mug in her hand.

"Of course, Miss Luna," the house elf squeaked. "Let Mitzi know if you need anything else!"

It was only as the elf was scurrying away that Luna glanced up and caught sight of her.

"Oh! I didn't see you there, Cho," she said, though the warm smile never left her face.

Cho was a little slow to respond as her brain seemed to be struggling to keep up with this sudden shift in her routine. Her eyes tracked Mitzi until she was out of sight, wondering vaguely how Luna had gotten the elf to deliver the beverage at such a late hour. Though, in the back of her mind she realized she shouldn't be surprised. Luna had a history of befriending strange creatures.

"Sorry, Luna," she said before her eyes even began moving back to where the fourth year sat. Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"Don't be silly," Luna said, either oblivious to Cho's clearly unbalanced state or choosing to ignore it. "You are not a bother." She paused. "Would you like to join me? I could call Mitzi back to bring you some hot cocoa if you'd like."

"Um… no… thank you," she said quietly, her eyes already wandering for somewhere else that she could hole up while she waited for the remnants of the nightmare to fade.

"Are you sure?" Luna pressed. "You look awfully pale."

Cho looked at her in surprise at that. Cho and Luna had never been particularly good friends, being two years apart. Cho was honestly surprised by the young Ravenclaw's concern. She was so taken aback that she found she was at a complete loss for words.

Cho had passed through these last four months since Cedric's death in a blur. When she had returned home for the summer holidays her parents had initially expressed sympathy toward her, but had been too wrapped up in concerns with her father's job at the Ministry to really realize how much she was struggling. She had thought things would get better when she returned to school, but as it turned out it had only made things worse. So many things here reminded her of Cedric.

And suddenly and without realizing it, Cho had begun to drift. She was drifting away from friends, drifting away from Quidditch, drifting away from school work.

Up to this point, no one had really seemed to take notice. And now this younger girl she barely knew was looking up at her and seemed to really _see_ her. In Luna's gaze, Cho could see genuine concern and seemingly an honest understanding of the pain that Cho had been unable to even put into words.

"Why don't you sit?" Luna suggested after a minute of awkward silence. Even though there was plenty of room on the couch, Luna scooted over a bit anyway as if to make the point that there was room for her.

Cho found that her feet were moving her forward before her mind had made the decision to do so. She sat on the other side of the couch, instantly feeling the knot in her chest loosen as she sunk into the familiar cushions.

"What are you doing up so late?" Cho heard herself asking.

"Oh, the nargles were keeping me up," Luna said as she casually took a sip of her hot cocoa. Cho was nodding before she realized she had no idea what nargles were. "They can be quite annoying and I seemed to have misplaced my charm that keeps them away." Luna paused thoughtfully. "Is that why you're up too?"

"Er… no…" Cho said, her eyes wandering down to study her lap.

"No, I didn't think so," Luna said, nodding to herself as if something had just been confirmed. There was a minute of silence before Luna spoke again, her voice dipping down an octave though her tone remained conversational. "You know, after my mum died, I had awful nightmares about it for months. They were quite dreadful, kept me up at all hours of the night."

She took another sip from her mug as Cho looked over at her in alarm. It was no secret that Luna had lost her mother when she was young. Still, Cho couldn't help but wonder how she was able to breach the subject so casually.

"It's never easy, you know," Luna went on, seemingly oblivious to Cho staring at her as she was suddenly studying a nearby bookcase with mild interest. "Losing someone you care about so much. I've always been told it's worse when you're present for the passing, but, somehow, I think it would be painful either way. I always used to take comfort in knowing my mum went quickly and didn't suffer though." She finally turned her head to meet Cho's gaze. "From what I've heard, I believe it was the same for Cedric. I don't believe he felt any pain."

Even as tears were filling her eyes just at the mention of his name, Cho nodded. It had taken months, but she had finally been able to bring herself to do research on the Killing Curse. It is believed that the curse works so quickly that even if there was any pain, the victim wouldn't have time to register it before they were gone. It had been a small comfort… but at the same time she now found that the incantation would make its way into her brain at odd moments.

 _Avada Kedavra._

Those were the last words that Cedric Diggory heard before he died.

Suddenly the tears were steadily streaking down her cheeks as she took in a shuddering breath, her fragile grip on composure finally crumbling. She buried her face in her hands, embarrassed to be showing such emotion in front of someone that she barely knew.

Cho wasn't quite sure how long she stayed like that, but it must have been a significant amount of time because the next thing she knew, Mitzi was back, holding out a mug of hot cocoa to her.

"T-thank you," Cho murmured, taking the mug in trembling hands.

"You are welcome, Miss," Mitzi said softly with a timid smile. "Miss will call Mitzi if she wants anything else."

"I know you said you didn't want any," Luna spoke up, "but it is quite nice the way it just warms you from the inside out. It makes things seem less dismal, even in the darkest of times."

Cho wasn't quite sure that she really believed that, but she took a small sip of the drink anyway. She was no stranger to the way that the Hogwarts house elves made hot chocolate and the way that it was always the perfect temperature to not burn your mouth but still warm enough to send that comforting tingling feeling throughout your body. It didn't completely take away the anguish that had settled into her chest over the past four months, but she had to admit that it seemed to be steadying her trembling hands as well as evening out her breathing.

"That's better, isn't it," Luna declared. Cho nodded even though she hadn't really phrased it as a question. Still, Luna smiled in satisfaction at the response. "Some people prefer hot tea to calm the nerves. I've never liked the bitter taste though, even with sugar and honey. Honestly, I think I'd rather receive a Howler for Christmas."

At that, Cho felt the corners of her mouth twitch up in a small attempt at a smile.

They fell into silence after that, but strangely it was a much more comfortable silence than Cho tended to find when she was around her usual friends. There was no tension of the things left unsaid, as Luna had no qualms about saying exactly what was on her mind. It was refreshing to have someone who wasn't concerned with tiptoeing around her and treating her like some fragile thing.

As the sun rose, bringing about a new day to face, it wasn't as if all her grief had suddenly disappeared. But it was the first day that she finally felt validated with her feelings. Luna was the first person who had looked at her and really seemed to see her struggle. Just that small gesture had made the weight that Cho felt forced to bear just a little bit easier.

* * *

 **Grand Battle Event Prompts:**

 **Dialogue Prompts:**

"Honestly, I think I'd rather receive a Howler for Christmas." (3)

 **Character Prompts:**

Cho Chang (4)

Luna Lovegood (2)

 **Pairings Prompts:**

Cedric/Cho (2)

 **Word Prompts:**

Fragile (1)

Ice (1)

Present (1)

Ball (1)

 **Spell Prompts:**

Avada Kedavra (9)

 **Total Points: 24**


End file.
